Monthly Archives: May 2015

On, May 28, 2015, my phone showed up at work, properly packed and boxed from Shezhen China where it was made, not at the US factory in Texas as it’s already shut down due to the high cost of operating it. For those not in the know, Motorola is now owned by Lenovo a Chinese company, which now owns IBM’s computer arm, so the Thinkpads etc are now branded Lenovo. I believe that is what work place orders for their PC stuff.

And it’s a beaut. All red and black with a couple of gold accents and so very svelte with its curved back and slight taper towards the bottom (a tad thinner there that at the top to make room for the cameras). The sides are a gunmetal gray metal frame that also houses the antenna bands in the corners. The headphone jack and the Nano SIM card are at the top, the MicroB USB jack on the bottom, no HDMI, though I think you can get a MicroB to HDMI dongle or conversely, this phone can broadcast it’s images to a suitable TV however, and has touch and pay functionality, though I will need to download an app to use it, and I may well do that. Unfortunately, not a lot of places support this as yet, but if there, it’d be nice to just choose which card and tap away to make a payment.

The phone runs on Lollipop (5.0) of Android, the latest version though there is supposed to be I think 5.1 update that was rolled out in February of this year, will need to check to see if available as it may have only been released for certain countries that need the fixes. This phone initially was released running KitKat, the previous version of Android and was one of the first devices to get the Lollipop update as it runs a nearly stock OS.

Lock screenHome screen

Yes, it’s from Verizon as I bought it on a 2 Yr contract to enable the .99 deal with an extra $50 for the internal memory upgrade from the standard 16GB to 32GB since it now does not have the MicroSD card slot for external storage, though it DOES support USB On the Go, and yes, I verified it works like a charm, out of the box.

As you can see, I chose the red plastic back, it has a matte finish that feels nice and relatively high end and thus has some grip, though its thin profile makes it easier to drop if you don’t hold it right. The screen’s glass goes literally to the edge of the frame, which is thin in profile with a chamfered edge, very nicely done and its Corning’s Guerrilla Glass 3 for scratch resistance, though it’s not break proof, but is not as easy to crack as regular glass though and more resistant to scratches too. It uses an Amoled display of 1080×1920 with 424 pixel per inch (PPI) screen, so not the sharpest, nor brightest, but with Amoled, there is no backlight so only the pixels that need to will glow by a luminescent means, leaving the rest dark to create super deep blacks, and punchy colors, something a regular LED screen can’t quite do. It is simply using organic compounds to create the luminescent capabilities.

It also uses a fast, Qualcomm Smapdragon quad-core processor, the 801 series and uses a Centrino graphics processor and a separate processor for all voice functions so virtually NO lag with this phone, unlike my old Droid Razr that has gotten worse with the lag, though I don’t think it ever was lag free when new. Overall this phone works a treat, smooth scrolling, fast touch response and the voice commands is SO much better now. Don’t have to speak loudly or super clearly and it’ll pick up accurately what you just said. I used the voice commands in the Play Store to download some of the apps I do use and it was slick as a whistle.

Getting it set up was a cinch as I had to call Verizon to get the phones switched again due to when they do the activation, at the beginning of the order process, rendering your current phone useless for phone calls and text messages for a few days, not good. Therefore, the service to my old Droid was disconnected and had to have my service switched back for a couple of days through Verizon until the new phone arrived. So had to call Verizon again and have my new phone switched on when I received the phone. All I had to do was and find a suitable signal that was adequate enough to do so, I was able to get it to receive text messages as Verizon sent a test text, I was able to respond and immediately got the cloud to download my contacts, and yep, they were there and boom, I has my contacts! So apparently, a backup was performed at some point with the old phone. No data, as in photos etc were transferred as they are on the MicroSD card and I can get that myself.

I have the free unlocked WiFi at work saved on my phone, and pairing to my JVC head unit was a piece of cake for Bluetooth before driving home. I got the drive mode set up and it can sense when I’m in the car, and thus it can then read me any texts, and I can speak a text message and send it off. I also got the voice commands set up, the hand near phone to wake it up from sleep etc mostly all setup, so my phrase is OK Cell Phone, though you can choose anything you want. BTW, this phone also runs an almost totally stock Android and as I said, it is Lollipop, the latest version that was initially introduced to some devices last November with some bug fixes in December and then a big push for everyone else shortly after.

Remember, this phone uses a Nano SIM card, a tiny little card, much the size of MicroSD card in size and thus is smaller than the mini SIM cards in previous models like the Droid Razr. Also, there is no MicroSD card, but the phone will support USB On the Go, and I don’t have to do anything, but simply unmount the cable or reader or thumb drive when done, and that’s done through the storage page of the Settings panel. If you’ve not used Lollipop before but are familiar with earlier versions of Android, it’s a totally new user interface that is very nice and more interesting to view and so far of the apps I’ve used, the interface look is quite consistent. Overall, the changes to the OS has improved from a user POV. With Snapdragon as the CPU of choice, and separate processors for both the graphics and voice commands, this device is snappy with very smooth display movements and just a joy to use and all notifications are seen on the lock screen and on this phone, there is no notification light as the screen is just that and All I have to do is approach the phone and the lock screen lights up, or simply speak my phrase, “ok cell phone” and it should come out of sleep and if there are notifications, it’ll show them on the lock screen so one can just touch, hold and swipe up to open the notification screen and I like that quite a bit.

The voice commands, it is setup to be used for a variety of things, not just auto dialing, and in the case of apps, such as Google search, or the Play store, it’s used within those apps to find stuff. I used it to locate the apps I wanted to install on the new phone, and it worked like a treat (aspects of this has been available since at least Jelly Bean). Spoke “Shazam” in the play store, and boom, it found it, I tapped on it, tapped install and away I went, same with ColorNotes, Easy Voice Recorder, Google Earth, etc. I even downloaded a new media player, Rocket Music Player that can support tagging of files, However, I have not figured out how to get it to play a folder full of sub folders of music, such as my Freeformed series in sequential order as I’d set it up as. Google Music player is largely the same as what’s on the Razr, unfortunately, and it can’t parse tags well at all so hence the new music player. Oh it can with a single folder, but if you select multiple folders, not so much.

Anyway, the phone is physically larger at 5.3”, with a 73% screen to body ratio, so the front is mostly all bright, luscious screen. As you can see below, it is noticeably larger than my old phone in physical size, and in its screen size. The Razr had fixed capacitive button along the bottom, out of the screen itself, just below the Verizon branding, the X has them within the screen itself, and are fixed even though they are now a part of the display as you can see, but this may be the stock aspect of Android as some phones do allow those buttons to be moved around.

Guess which is which? 🙂

Overall, while not the quickest phone out there, nor the brightest, or the most high quality high def display on the market, it’s a heavyweight flagship phone, geared towards mainstream users, the more hard core may prefer the Droid Turbo or similar phones, while not as feature laden as the X, it makes up for it with as bit beefier hardware, and like the X, runs on an almost stock Android OS, and adds wireless charging as well as the X does not have it, and the Turbo gets the turbo charger in the box, so a quick charge from dead to 63% within 15 minutes, and a full charge within an hour. My current phone has the rapid charger that can do the same in 30 minutes, and 2 hours to full charge from dead, similar to my old Droid Razr.

In summation, a solid piece of kit that feels good in the hand, has a nice weight to it by itself, feels solidly built and runs fast and smooth with all one does and is chalk full of features that many will find useful without much, if any fluff with little bloatware between Verizon and Motorola, though what’s there tend to be quite useful for the most part and no third party skins, thank goodness, however there is a splash screen for the Verizon branding, but quickly disappears before going to the home screen.

After 4 days of working with Customer Service/tech support at Motorola, I finally got the order to go through.

Turned out, the site is very particular about ensuring your mailing address, IE, the one associated with your bank card, be it debit, or credit card or the order won’t go through.

However, one page on there where you are where asked for where to ship or something along those lines and I think that may have thrown things off, but in the end, after a hiccup or two, it finally went through.

In case you were wondering, yes, I did get the .99 sale via Verizon, though I sprung for the 32GB version for $50, might as well since it’s not expandable as readily though it can be done via USB On the Go. However, likely, I’ll use the needed storage for the occasional high res video I may take until I can snag a dedicated video camera and I can then download the video files OFF the phone either via USB OTG or directly to the PC by using the phone as a mass storage device and thus the PC can see the files within, and I can pull off them off the phone as needed.

So the deed is done.

I went with the matte red plastic (I think) back, gold accents, black front and black standard charger (it also comes in white) and upgraded to 32GB from the 16 Gigs I have now.

A good thing as I got an email from the MLSOnline.com of a house this morning while eating breakfast that might fit my criteria (doesn’t, and it’s not even really IN Seattle either), two short phone calls with Motorola, a few email notifications and that was it, I went from a full charge to almost dead by 11:30 this morning. Sad, really and it usually isn’t this bad, but some days, it is these days. Also, it’s been getting slow and sluggish, a reboot helped there, but the battery usage, well, it is very, very sad indeed.

If I recall, I think it is expected arrive by the 27th, which is next Wednesday. Got confirmation of the order, and am awaiting notification with tracking of when they get it shipped.

Lately, I’ve been realizing I probably should think about updating my cell phone, a device I bought new in the spring of 2012, well, that WAS 3 years ago now and it is beginning to show that it’s getting on the tired side. It works largely fine but lags more often than not and I don’t think the battery isn’t quite what it used to be, and it was never all that stellar when new due to the meager capacity of it at the time.

My old BB Storm, bought new in 2010

What I have currently is the Motorola Droid Razr, the Smartphone version of the former perennial favorite, the Motorola Razr V3 clamshell that was first introduced in 2004 on various carriers like AT&T and eventually Verizon, and was sold up through 2007 before being updated and finally dropped in 2009, or perhaps a bit later. It would be resurrected by the Smartphone version in 2011. At the time, I was upgrading from what ended up being the so, so Blackberry Storm, my first Smartphone with a capacitive touch screen with tactile feedback through a movable screen that provided some tactile movement to the screen. A very nice way to provide tactile feedback, and it was not well loved by many but I had no issues with it and I think it helped with my typing to some degree when texting (thumbs). Otherwise, its performance was middling at best and lacked Wi-Fi, a major WTF decision from RIM, the maker of the Storm. They did a second gen version that did offer the Wi-Fi however. That second generation Storm had other improvements to make it better but too late for me as I would decide to go with the then flagship Motorola Smartphone, the Droid Razr and besides, had to wait out my 2 year contract before being eligible for an upgrade at reduced prices anyway.

As far as I can recall, it was largely due to what it had to offer, and it had a nice look and overall design to it, and was, as I said, the flagship phone from Motorola as offered by Verizon, plus, the reviews for it were largely very good from most sources, such as C/Net, Consumer Reports, and general reviews from customers online.

My crappy Motorola phone from 2003, courtesy of phoneforums.net

Now, I’ve been a Verizon customer since 2003 when I bought a crappy Motorola phone, a very basic phone at that with a B&W screen with a sickly green backlit display that made it difficult to see in low light due to poor contrast. Anyway, its performance was also lackluster, but hey, it WAS 1 cent at the time so why not? All I had to do was pay a fee to activate the contract ($30 I think it was) and voila, had a cell phone and service. At the time, I knew it was just to get me a cell phone quickly and cheaply as I had just gotten a job and needed my own phone. I had closed down my previous phone and carrier, US West in July of 2002 due to attempting to live in LA at the time and they didn’t have service that far south, so went without for a year and a half, even after moving back home to further find work here when LA ended up being a bust.

I figured I’d upgrade later on when the initial contract ended and the Motorola phone could serve me until then – and it did actually, in 2005 I upgraded with a much better clamshell phone, also from Motorola, a true feature phone with camera, music player, Bluetooth, and voice commands (despite Verizon crippling some features of each at the time). Well, here we are in 2015 and I’m still a Verizon customer, contemplating buying, yet another phone from them. This time, I’m contemplating getting the build it yourself Moto X, their current flagship Smartphone from Motorola. For a short time, it was this phone or the Droid turbo. The difference was the extra capacity battery (3900mAh) and it was somewhat less feature laden over the X, and the kicker, it was not USB host capable and I’ll explain that in a bit. Also, the turbo comes with a super quick charger and the bit faster processor than the Moto X. However, what it DOES have are very useful, and runs on an almost stock Android OS with little bloatware from Motorola/VZ.

Anyway, in my research, I had come to find out that to my dismay, and many others, many manufacturers are now removing the replaceable battery for a non removable one, and in a sealed case (my Droid Razr is one though it does sport the MicroSD slot). This means now that one has to find a Smartphone with a higher capacity battery or find a rapid charger that can mitigate time to get it charged to at least 60% in 15 minutes or so when needed. This is where the Droid Turbo comes in as it has that very charger in the box. However, the Moto X (second gen), does not come with it even though it has a smaller battery (2300MAh). However, the Moto X has a much larger battery than my current one so it should last at least a day much easier despite being faster and all that. Reviews seem to think it is capable of it, though it largely depends on what you run and how by much. However, it does have a rapid charger than can give a good partial charge within 30 minutes (when off I think), and a full charge within 2 hours, and I believe that as my current phone has it as well.

The other thing is the removal of the internal micro SD card slot in many higher end Android phones (Apple iPhone never had one). Many lower end phones still sport it, though this is largely an Apple and Android thing. According to articles I’ve read, the CEO I think of Google dislikes the SD card for a variety of reasons given, but one of several which is a lack of support for proper file protocol and its speed of access and security being the main legit reasons, thus the later versions of Android post Jelly Bean does not officially support the micro SD card anymore, though it will support another format, the USB On the Go (OTG) whereby an extension to the USB protocol now allows the device, the phone in this case to become a host so it can then accept a special USB flash drive with on the go with both the micro B and standard USB plugs. Thus an extra pin is included inside the micro B USB plug used by all cell phones for charging (as a standardization of chargers) by grounding the 4th and 5th pins together on one end of the OTG cable, and on the other end, it’s left floating so when you plug in the device, the Smartphone first, it then becomes the host and the flash drive a slave, so to speak, much like how it’s viewed when the flash drive is plugged into your computer. However, Android versions from I think Ice Cream Sandwich on restricted all apps to the internal storage, and NOT to the MicroSD card. Not a bad thing actually for much the same reasons as your computer, the MicroSD card does not have as fast a throughput as the internal storage, and thus affects phone performance.

However, some companies like LG are bucking the trend and have rewritten the Android OS to accept the micro SD card so have included it and in some cases, the removable battery for their top models for 2015. We’ll see how long that holds out, but if enough resistance takes place, Google, the parent company of Android may relinquish, eventually, given that there is a place for it, though I see USB OTG being an alternative here. While not internal, it could allow users to transfer their photos etc to it after the fact at the very least, but the sad fact is, most don’t bother and let the phone fill up, so the SD card is the best solution I see for many of the more Luddite amongst us. The main reason I’m going with the Moto X is just that, it can act as a host, whilst the Turbo can’t. Heck, my current phone can, though it seems it may require external power to do so. I have yet found an OTG cable for it to try with a standard USB stick I already have for audio files however I’ve only started looking for one.

Anyway, all that said, I’m looking at a bespoke version of the Moto X whereby I can custom order the phone thorough Motorola during my order. However, I need to visit the actual Verizon company store in downtown Seattle, not a franchise as they only offer dummy phones to view and check out for myself and then make my final decision. I’m eligible for an upgrade, at reduced prices and can do the edge program (pay the taxes up front, no contract, or go 2 year contract at subsidized prices, or pay full price, and maybe get an unlocked phone. I’m leaning towards the 2 year one more time and then go contract less due to budget constraints at this time to remove the lag and such I am getting now with my 3 year old phone. Plus, it’s no longer being upgraded as it can only accept 4.1.2, Jelly Bean Android anyway, and that is what I have. One of the issues is the battery barely lasted a day and a half with light use when new, and now just barely lasts a day, most days. It’s especially bad if I put it in Wi-Fi mode, Bluetooth isn’t so bad, but Wi-Fi? It’s such that I can almost see the battery status bar drop in real time so don’t use it much. As of this past week, the Moto X was down to .99 for the phone plus a $40 contract activation. Not bad for a flagship phone from Motorola that gets largely good reviews.